Motorcycle Gang Members Indicted On Racketeering Charges

Hells Angel Richie Southcoast takes a break from setting up this year's Bulldog bash at Long Marston Airfield on August 5, 2009 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. The annual festival of bikers is going ahead this weekend despite police concerns of an escalation in violence between two rival biker gangs. Organisers said the allegations were unfounded. Seven men were jailed for the murder of Gerry Tobin, a Hells Angel shot dead on the M40 two years ago as he returned from the Bulldog Bash.

A federal indictment was unsealed Friday charging 23 alleged members and associates of the Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMG), including some of its most senior leaders, in a conspiracy involving racketeering, murder, robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault, among other charges.

While the indictment was returned by a grand jury in Las Vegas, earlier Friday, federal, state and local law enforcement officials arrested people in Hawaii and across Southern California and Nevada, including in the Las Vegas metro area and in Reno.

Acting Assistant Attorney Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre of the District of Nevada; Acting Executive Associate Director Derek N. Benner for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI); Special Agent in Charge Jill A. Snyder of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) San Francisco Field Division; Sheriff Joe Lombardo for Clark County, Nevada; and District Attorney Christopher Hicks for Washoe County, Nevada, made the announcement.

“Today (friday), the rule of law dealt a serious blow to the Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, a so-called ‘brotherhood’ responsible for drug addiction, death and mayhem in multiple locations, including California, Arizona, Hawaii, Oregon and Nevada,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco. “Today’s coordinated takedown of this biker organization’s leadership is a victory for all of us who respect and love our country, and a testament to the bravery and dedication of federal, state and local law enforcement men and women who want to keep our communities safe,” said Blanco.